And:
Finalist with White Abeles, ARC.
“It seems like we’re back in the time of Impresssionists!” – a comment to be heard at The Representational Art Conference 2014, in March this year in Ventura, California. I participated in this heart warming and enriching event, the second of this kind, organized by the California Lutheran University. Michael Pearce and Michael Lynn Adams were the leading organizers. The theme was the significance of realist art today. Almost 350 participants –artists, philosophers, art teachers, art historians, publicists, gallery owners, and art collectors – participated in lectures, panel discussions and art demonstrations. They came from the US and Europe. It was already characterized as “the most important movement in the art world of today”.
TRAC2014
Michael Lynn Adams en Michael Pearce
Brandon Kralik
The moment
Brandon Kralik, painter, writer (Huffington Post):
“We are only now getting a large body of well-trained painters who are young. This is the perfect time to start discussing content, meaning, and philosophy. TRAC2014 is precisely the forum for such discussions.”
Demonstrations
Jeremy Lipkin was one of the artists giving a demonstration:
Jeremy Lipking fasen
Here you could see what a photo doesn’t show:
palet
he mixed one colour nuance after the other on his palette, and all of these colour touches next to each other joined perfectly, like an ininterrupted melody. A true master!
Strategy
Peter Trippy, editor of ‘The Fine Art Connoisseur’, discussed strategy. The question is: how do we gain a space on different levels, like museums, the media, or art history. For too few people know of our existence. So co-operation is necessary. And, fellow artists: for the moment please stop talking about using photos, about loose or precise painting etc., because within five minutes you will be at each other’s throats and we won’t get anywhere with representational art! Think of the wider audience, that is not interested in splitting hairs over these matters. Conquer the audience!
Peter Trippi and Teresa Oaxaca
Future
A sample of the many discussion topics: What is the meaning of realist art?, What is kitsch?
Roger Scruton –known from the BBC documentary ‘Why Beauty Matters’– and Odd Nerdrum had a dialogue that earned them a standing ovation.
Everybody said goodbuy with great enthousiasm, because a TRAC2015 was already foreseen!
Odd Nerdrum and Roger Scruton
Reactions
“I felt a sense of community that I have never experienced as a painter.”
“I am reminded that I am a part of a bigger movement with important work to do.”
“TRAC was very stimulating I loved the social part of it. That said if you had asked different people in attendance "Who is your model of a great representational artist?" things start to fall apart. I would say David Park, Kara Ross would say Bouguereau and Brandon Kralik would say Odd Nerdrum. There are some real differences underneath the excitement.”
“There are many, many of us, I’d venture to say a vast majority of TRACkers 14 who felt a total sense of community on the level never experienced before. A community of purpose. A community of vision. A community of worldview. A community of philosophy in ART and in life. A community of intent. A community of what we stand for and of what we can’t stand. All of which has very little to do with any particular ‘look’ (that be much too reductionist).”
TRAC2014: www.trac2014.org
TRAC2015: www.trac2015.org
Video: Introduction to TRAC2014
Lecture 'Imitatio et Inventio'
TRAC2015 is held from 1 till 5 november in California and I will give a lecture about true to nature realism.
Finalist
Fine Art Connoisseur with White Abeles
My ‘White Abeles in the Dunes’ was finalist in the Art Renewal Centre’s (ARC) competition 2015 and is now published in Fine Art Connoisseur!
ARC is a museum for representational art and actively promotes it. So does Fine Art Connoisseur.
Translation NL-EN: Jeroen Strengers